An Education

From the moment when the streets are colored grey and sad, every house looks the same and uniforms are ubiquitous, An Education is known to be a british movie about the confines of life and trying to break out of those confines. It's immediately apparent that the film is excellent in terms of its technicalities: it's beautifully photographed. So now we expect a film that will follow the formula. And in some ways, An Education does, but it stands out as a different film in two ways. First: it is realistic rather than maudlinly satisfactory, second: it features a breakout performance by a radiant and appropriate Carey Mulligan. The story follows Mulligan's character: Jenny, who is outspoken, intelligent and desires a life where she can study what she wants and listen to what she wants without the protests of her father. But one day, as Jenny walks home with her cello in hand, a charming 'music-lover' saves her and the cello from the wet. He's immediately witty and charming, as radiant as Mulligan's character. Peter Saarsgard (so good, so often) plays the man brilliantly. He strikes up a relationship with Jenny, and in no time is showing her all that she wanted to see. However, there are some demons within this man. Her parents would be happy to see her married off to an established man rather than go after her own life, her teachers are wary but disregarded because they represent the old way of thinking. This is a masterful film. Not only in the way the actors convey feelings at appropriate times, but in the way that the film knows what it's like to be young. It is never condescending or preachy, but you reach a conclusion by what occurred in the story, not what the story told you to think.
An Education: ✰✰✰✰